Caitlyn's Reading Blog

Both of our readings this week talk about the culture of reading and the future of the book. So I have two questions for you as readers, pulling on your own experiences and all of the readings we have done over the semester: First, how have reading and books changed since you were a child, for you specifically? Second, talk a little about what you see in the future for reading, books, or publishing - say 20 years from now. Will we read more or less, will our reading become more interactive? What will happen to traditional publishing? This is a very free-form question, feel free to wildly extrapolate or calmly state facts, as suits your mood! For me, I would say I’m a lot pickier about what I like to read and I spend less time reading overall. This is probably due to the realities of being a working adult who is in school and the lack of free time that comes with that. When I was a child we had a free reading period during the school day and I was never without a book. I probably finis...

What do you think are the best ways to market your library's fiction collection? Name and describe three ways you do or would like to market your library or your future library's fiction. These can be tools, programs, services, displays - anything that you see as getting the word out. I agree with Saricks that displays are one of the best ways to market the collection. I work in the children’s department and I change the bulletin board monthly and find corresponding books (This month is Earth Day themed) as well as rotate the big display monthly (This month is Fantasy/Fairy Tales). I change the smaller displays too based on what holiday/ special day/ awareness month is happening (National Poetry Month and Passover & Easter!). Book displays for adults could also be as simple as what Saricks mentioned- good books you may have missed- or could be themed. I think displays are effective when they tie into pop culture, holidays, or other interesting things happening locally or na...

My reaction is to not separate the collections to a different place. Now if the library does have genre fiction stickers I would consider adding a sticker to the books classified as Urban Fiction in our catalog in order to appease patrons who want to find these books easier in the collection. I feel this is fair because Urban Fiction is a recognized genre now the same as Westerns or Mystery. I would not consider doing this with the LGBTQ ficiton. My reasoning is that separating the LGBTQ fiction into its own section could be considered a form of censorship. According to the ALA’s Access to Library Resources and Services Regardless of Sex, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, or Sexual Orientation this could be considered a form of censorship since these books are singled out and put away in a special section. Some other thoughts that come to mind are this is a vulnerable population subject to much discrimination. I feel separating these items into a “special section” is something that b...

Author: Sapphire Title: Push Genre: Urban Fiction, Street Lit Publication Date: 1997 Number of Pages: 140 Geographical Setting: Harlem Time Period: Late 1980s Plot Summary: Claireece Precious Jones, a young black girl living in Harlem in the late 1980s, speaks directly to the reader to tell the story of her life and how she overcame her horrible and tragic upbringing to start a new life for her and her child Abdul. Precious, raped and pregnant by her father, gets kicked out of traditional school and finds an opportunity to continue her education at an alternative school. Under the careful guidance of her teacher Ms. Rain she learns to read, write, and gets herself and her baby a new place to live away from the abuse of her mother. This book is not for the faint of heart and has graphic depictions of incest, abuse, rape, and violence. However, the book does end with a hopeful note that Precious will make it and will be redeemed. Saricks Rule of Three: Intense, dis...

I think the most important thing to keep in mind is listed at the beginning of the class syllabus. Ranganathan's five laws are: 1. Books are for use 2. Every reader their book 3. Every book its reader 4. Save the time of the reader 5. The library is a growing organism Basically it doesn’t matter if some members of the public do not consider young adult or new adult “appropriate” reading choices for adults in general. We have a duty to see that every person’s reading choices are valued no matter how we may personally feel about the value of certain genres. I for one cannot stand Amish fiction or Christian fiction in general. Some other person may think romance has no place in the library, or another may think magazines don’t belong in a public library. It doesn’t matter how I or anyone else feels about the subject. A public library is for the public and we must try to serve every member of our public no matter how impossible it may seem. You can bet your bottom dollar I’m still goin...